MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

5/21 Howry back with Cubs

Bob Howry is back with the Cubs. The veteran reliever has reportedly signed a one-year contract with the team and was expected to join the Cubs Friday when they open a three-game Interleague series against the Texas Rangers. An official announcement was expected later Friday.

Howry, 36, was designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday after posting a 10.67 ERA in 14 games. In 14 1/3 innings, he gave up 17 runs on 18 hits and six walks, and served up six home runs.

This would be Howry’s second stint with the Cubs. He was part of the bullpen in 2006-08, and posted a 17-17 record and 3.90 ERA in 234 games. He struggled in ’08 with a 5.35 ERA.

The Cubs have been looking for right-handed help in the bullpen since the offseason and moved Opening Day starter Carlos Zambrano to a set-up role April 22 in an effort to bridge the gap to closer Carlos Marmol. That didn’t work, and Zambrano will return to the rotation once he builds up arm strength.

– Carrie Muskat

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3 Comments

This signing makes zero sense to me. Again, I hope I’m wrong, but I never would have signed a guy who got dropped for legitimate reasons when the Cubs need a guy who can be a force in the bullpen as a right handed set up guy. Howry is NOT likely to be that guy. I’ve defended Hendry in the past, but this absolutely mystifies my unless he starts off at Iowa to fix himself and prove himself.

Hendry seems to be grasping at straws and is showing his desperation. “I see veteran pitcher, veteran pitcher good, veteran pitcher has big era, me sign veteran pitcher, I see veteran outfielder with no arm, armless veteran outfielder good, me sign veteran outfielder with no arm, I see birdies, me like birdies…I see veteran outfielder with no glove, me sign him, no, wait, me sign him for 8 years, me will show world that me mean business, me am genius”

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